Angolan medical doctors went on strike on Tuesday, 20 November 2018, demanding better working conditions and the hiring of all unemployed colleagues. The action began on Monday after the union had already served notice to the government in August.
Adriano Manuel, the head of the doctors’ union, said the stoppage was “98 per cent successful.” The government described the work boycott as illegal, but did not immediately make any offer to the medics.
The dispute has drawn attention to Angola’s wider health crisis. In January, the government acknowledged that more than 1,500 medical doctors in the country were unemployed. Angola has just over 6,400 doctors for a population of about 28 million, far below the World Health Organisation’s estimate that the country should have at least 28,000 doctors in full-time employment.
Public health indicators remain grim. About one in five children in Angola dies before the age of five from malaria, while life expectancy is 52 years. Although there is political will for reform, the country’s health facilities remain inadequate and inaccessible to most people.
That gap has pushed some Angolans to seek treatment outside the country, while others turn to private care despite the higher cost. Large private firms, especially oil companies, also run their own clinics and health systems for employees.
Angola’s health sector was heavily damaged during the 27-year civil war, and the effects are still visible in the shortage of staff and weak public services.
